Ep.238 w/ Eric Norton "Same Hobby New Role"

SPEAKER 1: Hey, everybody. Welcome to episode 2 38.

SPEAKER 1: Happy to be joined by my good friend Eric Norton, formerly of Beckett, now of Panini. He obviously talked about his decision to move on from one company to another what he does now in his new role, what he's looking forward to and, and how difficult was that as a decision. And, we're gonna chop up some other Hobby stuff, talk about the upcoming National. And, it's always great to, to catch up with Eric.

SPEAKER 1: I want to say thank you to a lot of people who reached out.

SPEAKER 1: You know, I, I sometimes I do share some, some personal life stuff on these pods.

SPEAKER 1: And I didn't share it on the pod, but for the last few weeks I haven't been feeling great.

SPEAKER 1: And I was kind of nervous about what might be going on. So I went to the emergency room the other day and I had some, they did an EKG and some blood work and x-ray got some fluids and some medicine and happy to say I'm ok.

SPEAKER 1: I was worried I, I, something serious was, was wrong and, got some, got some medication I've, I've got to start taking and, it should be ok. But, I know I, I posted a picture of kind of the IV in me and a lot of people reached out with, well wishes and, and prayers and thoughts and, it means a lot to me. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER 1: So, back on the horse, I've kind of, you know, those three weeks I wasn't feeling great. I wasn't super motivated to do, a ton of stuff. Just did sort of the bare minimum. But, now that I kind of know what's going on and what it's not what I kind of was worried about something in particular.

SPEAKER 1: I'm, I'm kind of rejuvenated and again, I appreciate everyone who kind of sent, thoughts of concern and, and prayers and all that, that good stuff. It really, really, really hits home and, and, and, you know, makes me feel good. And so I appreciate it. Thank you.

SPEAKER 2: Time for our Hobby is the people announcer of the week.

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SPEAKER 4: For nearly 50 years. Sports collectors digest has been the voice of the Hobby, bringing you comprehensive coverage of the sports collectible industry from industry news, auction results, market analysis and in depth stories about collectors and their collections. Sports collectors digest has everything you need to know about the Hobby.

SPEAKER 4: Also your leading source for listings of sports collectible dealers, card shops, card shows and the latest from the industry's top companies to check out all the latest news or to subscribe to the Hobby's oldest magazine. Visit sports collectors digest dot com or call 1 808 29, 55 61.

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SPEAKER 1: Always excited to have my next guest on the Sports Card shop guest line. Those who listen to this show, on a regular basis or maybe even if you don't have heard me say that the gentleman I'm about to bring on is really one of the inspirations for this show itself.

SPEAKER 1: I've, I've kind of coined him the, the pod father, formerly of, of Becca, but he's got a new job. We're gonna be talking about that amongst the other things, Mr Eric Norton. Welcome back.

SPEAKER 6: Thank you so much Sean for having me. I thought I was in an IMAX movie there for a minute with that intro.

SPEAKER 6: I was waiting for one of those things come across the screen talking about illumination was gonna be, we're doing good intro. I like it.

SPEAKER 1: Now, the only thing that's gonna happen is there's gonna be a a intermission with the Jimmy Fund collection.

SPEAKER 6: Ok. There we go. There we go.

SPEAKER 6: Nice.

SPEAKER 6: I love the intro.

SPEAKER 1: John.

SPEAKER 1: Thank you. So, I, I, you know, you, you were way back in. Oh, wow. How many years were, were you there?

SPEAKER 6: Nine years just shy of 10.

SPEAKER 6: It was, I mean, say what you say what you will say about Beckett. I, I don't, I always thought when I left Beckett at some point I would like write, write a blog post or write a book or something about like the 55 things I learned about the Hobby while working at Beckett.

SPEAKER 6: And every time I've sat down to do it, it's been like, what can I say? That's because I don't want to disparage Beckett. Beckett was great to me. It was, it was a, it was a good place, but when I left it was just time to go. It was like the writing, the writing on the wall. And I was, I felt it in my, in my heart that it was, it just wasn't for me anymore. So, then we made the, I made the move over.

SPEAKER 1: To, you know, I've talked to you a lot of times, even, even after the year that nine years, that's a, that's a great run. That's probably more than, than most can say that a lot of Hobby, Hobby companies and, and there's been ups and downs and all that. But, you know, I don't, I'Ll speak for myself and, you know, and for many people, you really were sort of that face for Beckett, one of at least one of them.

SPEAKER 1: Ok. I don't want to disparage anybody else that maybe listen and say what, hey, I was, you know, you know, but you really were at the forefront, especially on, on the, on the content creation stuff with fat packs and, and just your presence at shows and, and, and doing live things at shows, live recordings at shows.

SPEAKER 1: I was fortunate enough to be on one of those. You know, is, is, you know, what is, is that one of the things you might miss is like the social stuff and, and, and then asking that, you know, what will you be doing? You're at Panini now? Congratulations there. You know, Are there similarities between the two roles?

SPEAKER 6: Here, no, there's, there's not, there's not similarities at all. So just to answer the back end of that question first, my role at Panini is I'm, I'm the, I'm one of the assistant brand managers for football. So, I'm, I'm building sets, which is something really cool. As a, as a hobbyist, as a, as a guy who loves card collecting, who's been in it for a while.

SPEAKER 6: Getting to see that side of the process is something new and it's, it's fun. It's a learning curve. I will tell you that. It's not, it's not just, oh, I wanna see, I wanna see, you know, Sauce Gardener in this product.

SPEAKER 6: Well, that may, that might, maybe it's a bad example because Sauce Gardeners current current player, so we can use Sass Gardner but say, say, I wanna say put Warren Sapp in a product if we don't have a contract with Warren Sapp, I can't put him in a product that makes total sense. So there's a little bit of learning there that goes on as far as missing what I did at Beckett that I mean, just to be blunt with you.

SPEAKER 6: Yeah, I, I missed, I missed being one of those front facing people that went to card shows and, and, and did, you know, did the podcast and, and, and did Social Media again, not to speak disparaging of, of the company, but they had a lot of turmoil at the top and not this year. But last year, the week before the Mint Collective, I was just told to, hey, stop doing Social Media like we don't want you to do this anymore.

SPEAKER 6: And they went in and they do, they deleted everything that I had built on Social Media for Beckett. And I was, I was just told, hey, stop. And that was it. By the time I worked my way back into the marketing team onto the marketing team, I was, I, I did not post to Social Media but I answered every question, every customer service question that came in on Social Media.

SPEAKER 6: I was your guy. I, that was me. So it was, it was a little bit of the same thing but it was just different leaders, the leadership at the top, not meaning people in the, in the building in Plano, but people in the, on the corporate level just didn't understand what I was doing and, and didn't really understand Beckett's Place in the Hobby.

SPEAKER 6: I don't think, I personally don't think that I might be wrong, but I just, I just don't think that they understood what was happening and why Beckett carried so much weight for so long and it, I would love to see them succeed again. I just don't know if the pieces are in place for that to happen right now.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I've talked about it on this show, Eric, other, other shows have talked about some of the stuff that that happened in, in the last few years there with, with changes and maybe wrong calls being made. You know, it's easy to play armchair quarterback.

SPEAKER 1: But you alluded to a little bit of that yourself, you know, and hear and you, you, you answer that one thing that stood out, it's one thing to tell somebody, hey, you know, we don't want you to, to do any more shows. But why delete the archive? Why? Like that's, that's your, your body of work that, that would, I, I'm sure it upset you.

SPEAKER 1: It upset me. Nothing to apologize for being like what? It's one thing, hey, we don't need any more shows. We can make, we could do a whole show on whether that was even the correct. But why take it further than that and, and then delete what already has been done. Why do you think that was.

SPEAKER 6: What I was told?

SPEAKER 6: Was it they were, they were changing the brand basically, that's what happened. And you know, we all, we all seen, we all know about the new Beckett logo. We've all seen what that looks like now. So they wanted to change the whole brand and they weren't happy with the tone of what I was putting forward. That's fine.

SPEAKER 6: My, my, my issue with it is like I just wasn't told, I, I wasn't told that this was coming. I logged in on a sat, I logged in to Instagram on a Saturday morning and it was gone and like I wasn't giving a heads up or anything like that, that, that was a really crappy move.

SPEAKER 6: Again, I would just, I just want to reiterate people in the building, people in the building in Plano, this wasn't coming from them. I knew that and they were upset about it too.

SPEAKER 6: It was people above their heads that were making these decisions that so we had, we had no reply, no say for it at all. I ended up going to that first minute collective. I wa I was going there intending to host a podcast from there the whole weekend and I, I literally just went there and walked around because I had no job while I was there.

SPEAKER 6: And so it was, it was real, a little discouraging. I, it was cool at the same time, I got to meet some people and, you know, shake hands and, and, and do all that kind of stuff. But, but to answer your question directly, why delete the art, the archive?

SPEAKER 6: It was, it was their call and it was, again, it was something I don't think that they understood and they made that call and, and now look where it's at and it's, it's not, it's getting better with the people that are there now, but it's not, it's not where it was. I, I personally don't think it was where it was.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah. No, no doubt. I don't, you know, you know how I feel about you and, and, and I, I, like I said, in the open, you know, this show probably exists because of you and fat packs and, and, you know, like I always joke, you're my son's favorite, Hobby podcasters. I'Ll have to remain number two on that list.

SPEAKER 1: So you're, you, you know, you're at Perini now, you mentioned, you know, your brand manager, is that something like in the back of your mind? Maybe not even thinking about just company specific, specific, but like, hey, this is something I'd like to do. I'm a, I'm a huge football guy. I think, you know, that I know, you know, your stuff.

SPEAKER 1: So they, they, they've got the, the right person in my opinion, in that position. Was that something you thought about? Even while you were at Beckett? Like, hey, if I ever go to a car manufacturer, this is something I I'd like to do. I think I'd excel at it. Was that something you thought about or, or not necessarily?

SPEAKER 6: So truth, you know, I, I started applying at Panini in like 2014, 2015 and I had just started, I've been in Beckett maybe a year, maybe two years and they had a position open on the product development side when they had the hockey license and I, I applied for that position and I even interviewed for it.

SPEAKER 6: And, so it's been something that I've tried to, I've tried to, I, I was trying to get to be Panini for five or six years and the roles that interest me were. Yes, product development, which is where I'm at now working with a great group of guys.

SPEAKER 6: And they also like acquisitions. So, I, I like, I, I like to, I like to travel. I like to, you know, you've seen, you've been a part of this, you've seen it?

SPEAKER 6: I like sitting down with athletes listening to them, talk, watching them sign and stuff like that. That's, that's fun for me to do. I, I like doing that.

SPEAKER 6: So I have, I applied for, for many positions there at Panini. It just so happens that this time with the circumstances that were taking place in the, in the industry at the time there was a position to open and I, I feel the need and I, I believe that I could, I believe I could do it.

SPEAKER 6: Well, there is a, like I said, there's a learning curve and, and I have a lot of re we Panini as a whole has a lot of responsibility with the NFL license still to the Hobby. So I want, I personally want to make sure I do the best that I can. So, hobbyists are excited about the products that are coming out with that being said, coming over to Panini from Beckett.

SPEAKER 6: I was on the f like I wasn't on the fence. It's something I wanted to do. But I was, I was on the fence, was I making the right decision? And then I saw that Tracy Hafer was coming back and I saw that Joe White was coming back and I knew immediately I had made the right decision.

SPEAKER 6: So, it's, it's a team that I'm proud to be a part of, especially with those two gentlemen, Tracy's been in, been in the industry forever and so is Joe and I, there's a lot that I can learn from them and both of those guys that were at Panini before. So they know the, they know the industry, they know the business and I'm looking, looking forward to being under their learning trick.

SPEAKER 1: How weird was it? I gotta ask you just a Hobby or even a regular job, right? Any time you're somewhere for nine years and then you start a new job like that first day. Talk about like just the kind of the, the, the thoughts, maybe the emotions of, you know, your, your, your, even with the ups and downs anytime you're with some something for, for nine years.

SPEAKER 1: There's an attachment there. Talk about like your first, you know, with Panini, some of the, the things going through your mind, emotions and, and that sort of thing.

SPEAKER 6: So being, being at Beckett for nine years, man, there, there was a bit of, there was a level of comfortable that I had there, you know, I'Ll, I'Ll name if you got like Jeremy Murray. I love Jeremy Murray. He, there's, there's nothing that he, I call him. He's a friend but he's a confidant. I listen to him.

SPEAKER 6: Ii, I immediately knew that I was gonna miss that Brian Flesher who I worked for for many years, again, a friend in a coffin and I knew that I was gonna miss me on his list barker who, who had recently just retired. But Ted is another guy that I, that I love that I respect and I, I knew I was going to miss him. And then one more Alex Oran, I knew I was gonna miss him even though Alex lives in, in, in San Diego.

SPEAKER 6: It was nothing for us to pick up the phone and chat.

SPEAKER 6: So on day one at Panini walking into knowing that I can still, I can still call those guys if I need to, but they're not in the, they're not Panini employees. They don't understand, they don't know, necessarily know what's happening in Panini. So I was starting over from scratch and that is kind of scary in and of itself again.

SPEAKER 6: There's a little, there's a level, there's a level of comfortableness, that you, you earn from being somewhere for nine years. And I knew going into that building every day, pretty much the gist of what was going on. I didn't know everything but I knew I knew some stuff.

SPEAKER 6: Then walking into Panini on day one, I'm fresh. I'm, I'm brand new. Don't know anything.

SPEAKER 6: And I'm, I'm, I'm a learning curve so I, I'm 42 now and I did something this time around that I didn't do that. I wouldn't have done when I was younger.

SPEAKER 6: I shut up and I kept my mouth shut and I just listened, because in the past I may have made mistakes by, showing a little bit too much personality or, or, you know, in inserting myself in, in conversations that I don't belong in this time around. I had the wisdom of me about to just be quiet and listen and, and, and take, take, take in what's happening.

SPEAKER 6: Another thing like I said is that level, level level of comfort there.

SPEAKER 6: I was, I was working from home two days a week at Beckett and I was leaving the office on the days that I was in the office. I was leaving in the office around 12 31 o'clock and I would work the rest of the day from home. Then I don't have that at Panini.

SPEAKER 6: So, you know, it's, it's all hands on deck right now as we're getting as we're ramping up towards the end of the year, towards the National, towards all those kind of things where we have products that we have to, to, to get out.

SPEAKER 6: So, you know, the, the hours were the big difference. That was probably the biggest difference. For me. 11 of the reasons, one of the reasons I left was because where I live to get to Beckett, it was like an hour, hour and 15 minutes.

SPEAKER 6: Just distance wise.

SPEAKER 6: Where I'm at now at Panini it's only 20 minutes. But because of the time that I go in and get off, it's a, it, it, it can get close to an hour. So it's, it's, it's, you know, 66 and a dozen, or was it six in one hand and a dozen in the other or half a dozen the other? It's, it's an interesting give and take.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I mean, it sounds like you, you jump, you jump right in. It sounds like even though, you know, the other nice thing you mentioned too, the, the friends you mentioned at Beckett, they're still your friends. You just don't work in the building and, and in Alex cases you didn't already anyway.

SPEAKER 1: You can still reach out. Those friendships don't necessarily have to end and, and hopefully they won't, it doesn't sound like, they will. So now you'll make some new ones, keep some of those old ones that you want to.

SPEAKER 1: And it sounds like you jump right in the, the cockpit seat and, are, are, are right into right into the action. I know there's some, some stuff going on, with legality reasons that you can't, you know, approach on.

SPEAKER 1: I understand that, not uncharted territory, for me, but we know the, the, the, the Hobby landscape is, is changing almost by the week, by the month it's going to change. Even more. Just some of your thoughts with that as, you know, licensing, might expire, different things like that.

SPEAKER 1: You know, is it, does it give you any trepidation me how to, you know, just some of your thoughts. You, you've been doing this a long time?

SPEAKER 6: Just being frank. Yes and no. Like, obviously it, it, it gave me trepidation, not because of the, the landscape of the Hobby, but because again, I was leaving a place that I've been for nine years. So, going into something new, that's where the trepidation came from.

SPEAKER 6: Panini, whether the Hobby wants to admit it or not or wants to know it or not, they're positioned pretty well for, for the next 10 years. And I, there are people that I trust that we have these conversations with, about this, this type of stuff but, like, is not going anywhere.

SPEAKER 6: It might look different but they're, they're doing well and what I mean by that, not that they're making money hand over for. That's not what I mean. I mean, they're, it's a good solid company. They have good leadership at the top and it's, they have a, a nice, they have a nice, grasp on what's happening right now. So, yes, the Hobby landscape is changing.

SPEAKER 6: But I'm Panini is fine. I'm, I'm, it's not a concern.

SPEAKER 1: All right. Good. Well, good to hear it. You know, I, I like you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you or anyone else. You know, a lot of times when we, when I talk about, you know, layoffs at this company or this company's closing or, or that sort of thing. Right. We sometimes forget the human element that's involved.

SPEAKER 1: We just think of it as a, as an inanimate object and it's just, that's the, that's it. And there's a lot more, than that. And, so that's, that's more or less where that question even, comes from, to begin with. So, you know, you, you're writing for Hobby News Daily, that's a, a website that I write for and, and heavily involved in upstart, website by my friend Danny Black.

SPEAKER 1: You know, it's, it's, it's encompassing, I think we're 16, 17 writers. We're, we're two of them. But many other great ones, including Mike. So I don't want it just, it's go to Happy News Daily dot com. That's the only kind of shameless plug, but plenty of writers talk about. And I know you've written before.

SPEAKER 1: This isn't like this isn't new, a new Tory for you. But I think, you know, I think it's, for me it's sort of therapeutic sometimes it's easier to write something and always kind of do it vocally or vice. It could work either way. Sometimes, sometimes it's easier to talk about it than to try to write it out.

SPEAKER 1: But, talk about that role. You know, we, we don't pay very well and the benefits are bad. But talk about, you know, being able to write what you, we've always said you've done that before. But, you know, doing that for, for having News Daily. I, you know, I like it a lot.

SPEAKER 6: I, I like being able to sit down and write about pop culture.

SPEAKER 6: Where the maybe, maybe those, maybe those things that I wrote about pop culture at Beckett didn't hit because let's be honest, Ryan Crack now owns that website when it comes to, to writing. He does a great job, Mike Payne as well. They, they both, they both do excellent jobs.

SPEAKER 6: But you go to Beckett and you're looking for checklist and some of the art articles that Ryan Ryan puts out, they get huge numbers which is great for them. I like. So when I was writing about pop culture for that, for, for Beckett, some of those were real hit or miss and I get it, I get it, I get it. It's not for everybody.

SPEAKER 6: So what I like about what Danny has given me the freedom to do is like, yeah, please write about pop culture, write about comic books, which is mostly what I've written about so far and, you know, we'll, we'll put it at the top and feature it for you and hopefully that will allow people coming to hopping daily dot com to see this whole other side of the con of, of collecting.

SPEAKER 6: And there's a, a real long history there that goes back and it doesn't go back as far as baseball cards, obviously, but it, it does go back to, you know, your 52 Mantel. It, it goes back that far. You can definitely find books that are, are, are from, from that era that are absolutely amazing and worth a lot of money.

SPEAKER 6: And then, then as you work forward through the eras of comics, there's, there's a lot to be had there. Just like just like rookie cards, any, any major major character on, on on page their first appearance. I mean, that's something to collect.

SPEAKER 6: And you, you have that throughout the lineage of a character, right? And now that we're, we've expanded the Marvel Universe verse and the DC Universe, there are characters upon characters that have first appearances of like how many different Spiderman are coming are out now. So it, it, it is crazy.

SPEAKER 6: So I, I do like that, Danny gives me that, that opportunity to, to write about pop culture and I hope that the people are checking it out or learning something and I will, I will be the first to say this I am not a comic book expert. I'm kind of learning on the go, but it fascinates me so that drives me to want to write about it and that's what I really enjoy.

SPEAKER 1: Well, well, that, and we can learn with you, along the way. Right. I, I, I, I didn't even really think about this to read in some of your articles. Eric, I actually had, you know, growing up, a young kid in Brooklyn, I actually had a comic book before I ever had a baseball card or any type of, of trading card.

SPEAKER 1: And you mentioned like, you know, comparing comics to cards, obviously, first appearances would be the parallel to a rookie card. And we, we talk about what some of these cards, you know, break records with their, their auction sales, right? If you, if you're one of the few lucky people, the only Superman number one, you're, you're, you're a millionaire multiple times.

SPEAKER 1: And again, I'm not, I'm not a comic expert either. So I think it's something like 5 to $6 million obviously depending on condition, you know, so comics in their own, right? Are, are seven figures as well, at least certain ones and, and that's just Superman number one, we can go across the board and talk about spider-man and Daredevil and do a whole show on that and, and, and they grade comic books just like they grade cards.

SPEAKER 1: And so, they're, they're, they're some, you know, they're not exactly the same, but they have similar parallels. And even for me, it didn't dawn on me to think.

SPEAKER 1: Like I had a comic book, you know, while I'm, I'm not a comic book guy now, as a kid I had boxes of comic books and I think it's sort of a, a rite of passage, when you're a kid that, that's one of the things you'll, you own and read at some point, or another and it's, and, and we'll learn, we'll learn what. Yeah. And, and, you know, you, you, you do the work and you, you do the due diligence.

SPEAKER 1: So, obviously look forward to future articles as well and not just comics, but like you said, pop culture as well. And that's, that's a nice thing with the site Eric. As you already know, you pretty much have sort of poetic life to kind of go in, in whatever direction You, you want to kind of go or whatever's on your mind at any particular moment or, or week or whatever the case may be.

SPEAKER 6: Absolutely. I, I love it. So, just to give you a little preview, I know we're recording this on a certain day, but like coming up, I got something coming out about the, the flash because that flash room is coming out and then I'm gonna, I'm gonna drop Hobby Hobby News Daily.

SPEAKER 6: I'm gonna drop the first call, comic book hot list, on there later, later this month as well. So, it's gonna be a lot of fun coming up. I hope you guys checked it out. Give them a read, give them a share. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah. And that's gonna be awesome. And that's one of the goals of that website is to try to cover as much ground. Just Hobby in general. Right. You know, we think Hobby, sure. If you've been in the Sports Card Hobby, that's your first, what first comes to mind. But the Hobby can accomp any different aspects. Comics being one of them non sports cards, pop culture cards.

SPEAKER 1: Right. We've seen in the last couple of years. I'm guilty of this myself. Buying a few for my personal collection. Right. Music cards, first appearances. I'm a big Billy Joel guy. So I went out and got, you know, his first appearance on a Panini sticker, by the way. In 1980 if you have any of those laying around you don't want, er, send them.

SPEAKER 1: But, you know, I joke, we've seen, we've seen, you know, with the explosion of the Sports Guard Hobby, from a few years ago we've seen that go into other, Hobby aspects as well.

SPEAKER 1: And so one of the goals of Hobby News Daily is kind of the, to accomp all of that not to exclude, anything if we don't have to and, and you bringing that to the table is gonna be awesome and, and seeing a, you know, a hot list on the comic side, not something you're used to seeing. So, for those folks that like that aspect, I'm sure they'll be, pleasantly, surprised with that.

SPEAKER 7: Time to hear from one of our great sponsors, but Sports Guard Nation will be right back after that.

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SPEAKER 2: Let's go. You are listening to the Sports Card Nation Podcast.

SPEAKER 1: You mentioned the National, I mentioned the National. I'm sure at some point we're, we're, you know, when we're recording this, we're under 50 days when this comes out, we'll probably be, under 40 days or pretty close to it.

SPEAKER 1: It's a week I circle now, every year. You know, I remember even my first one, even though for as long as I've been in the Hobby, my first one was only in 2019, so only, or 2018. I, I always forget, whatever one was in that year. And I got to actually be on your show with Jeff Ho.

SPEAKER 1: And, you know, you asked me, hey, you first National, what did you think? And I just said, man, it's, it's like, it's overwhelming. But, you know, I remember telling you, like, if it isn't here, it probably doesn't exist or it's really, really, super rare. It's an event we, I think most of us circle on the calendar every year. You know, to see old friends, see new friends maybe meet someone for the first time.

SPEAKER 1: You know, you obviously went prior, representing, Beckett. This will be different for you in a sense you'll be wearing, a new hat.

SPEAKER 1: You know, your thoughts on, on on this National back in Chicago and in a new role, what, what, what are your kind of your feelings and thoughts pertain to as.

SPEAKER 6: We, as we record this, I cannot tell you 100% that I'm gonna be going to the National with Panini. I will however be there.

SPEAKER 6: If I'm not there with Panini, I will be there with signatures for soldiers helping, helping Tim out as the chairman of that, that organization, I, I feel blessed to be in that position and, and it means a lot to me, you know, this, but people who might not know me don't, might not understand the impact that Tim has had one on our Hobby and two with homeless, well, not homeless veterans.

SPEAKER 6: But, but yes, with the veteran community that need disabled veteran community that, that needs help. So if I'm not there with Panini, I'Ll be there with, with a signature for soldiers wearing different hats, at both positions.

SPEAKER 6: So if I'm there with Panini, I don't know if you guys have ever stopped by the Panini booth at the National, but basically their job there is, is more or less an elevated customer service and answering questions, that kind of things.

SPEAKER 6: So, I don't know, I don't want to speak to that because I don't know a whole lot about it. But if, if that's where I'm at, then that's what I'Ll be doing. And happy, happy to see. See you walk by and give you a dap and you know, say, say what's up, excuse me.

SPEAKER 6: Otherwise I will be at the signature soldiers booth helping out Sam. My wife's be there. I'm bringing my kids this time. So we're all, it's, it's a whole family trip. We're, we're gonna make the, the trek up to Chicago and trek it back and we're gonna have a good time. So this will be my kids first National.

SPEAKER 6: I'm more excited to see, they hate card shows. So I, I'm excited to see what they think about this one and hopefully they'll like it a lot more than the, than going to the Dallas Car show that, you know, I drag them over there or, or, you know, a local, a local show.

SPEAKER 6: They, they don't like it because they don't, they don't have Legos, you know, they're, they're not really into sports cards. They're in comic books. So they don't really care about going to the Dallas Card show. What I was able to sell them on though is I know for a fact that there are booths at the National specifically in Chicago that do have Legos. So hopefully they'll, see some of that and, and be, be happy with that.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I mean, that, that's, you know, I, I always try to talk, my son's older, Eric, he's 23 now. I always try to talk him into, going even last year when we drove to Atlantic City, I'm like, this is, you don't have to fly. We're driving.

SPEAKER 1: You don't like the show. You can go hang out at the beach the rest of the week.

SPEAKER 1: But he, he didn't want to go. But, you know, having your kids go, that's, I'm sure that'll be a thrill for you.

SPEAKER 1: Maybe a little night, something card wise, you just never know what, when that moment, might hit and, and, and, you know, obviously traveling with your wife is always nice. And my wife, I went last year to Atlantic City, but she, she could care less about the show.

SPEAKER 1: She, like I, I've said on the show, she was on the beach with a beverage and umbrella and a book and her toes in, in the sand. But, she was a vacation for her and it was a Hobby vacation in a way, for me. So it's always nice when you're with some, your family and, and they can enjoy it however they, they choose to.

SPEAKER 1: There's no beaches that I'm aware of in Chicago. So my wife's not going, this year to just be, but me and I'm glad to hear that you're going, whether it's as a representative Panini or with all the great work you do as well.

SPEAKER 1: I know you, you know, you, you, you plugged him and rightfully so, but, you're the chairman there and, you got your finger on that pulse as well and involved. And, so, you know, and you're a former veteran yourself as well. Thank you for your service. So, it means a lot to veterans but I think it means a lot to everybody. Right.

SPEAKER 1: That or should, if you are a citizen of the country, and, you enjoy your freedoms and all that stuff that, that comes along with it. Tim, you know, that's a, and I'm sure I'Ll have him back on, before the nationals started with a, a $500 goal to raise money, for this, you know, that, that need it and here he's now in the six figures.

SPEAKER 1: I mean, that's just insane when you really think about it. And, you know, when I heard you were going to be a part of it just made, made perfect sense and, it's nice that you can do that and you don't, you know, it doesn't affect, in other words, you can do that and have your, your regular job as well.

SPEAKER 1: And, and, I'm glad that, you know, you scared me a little bit when you said you weren't sure if we were going, I'm like, but I'm glad, you know, when you, you came around and said I'm, I'm gonna be there because I'm not sure how many hats I'Ll be, be wearing.

SPEAKER 1: So, I look forward to obviously seeing you there collecting wise, has, has your collecting, what you collect changed over the years, how has it changed? And now working at Panini, do you see it maybe even changing again, just because of the new role?

SPEAKER 6: Yeah. You know, so it's still figure for me that's, that's where I go. That's where I'm most drawn to. But, I don't know if I've ever openly admitted this on a show or anything, but like that, but, people might not know that I grew up a Packers fan. So what it's happened recently is I've started a Packers PC and it doesn't really have to be a particular Packer.

SPEAKER 6: I just, I like, I like, I like patches and, so I, I grab up Packer autographs and Packer patches and even Packer base cards are fine with me. So, Sterling Sharp was, was the end all be all for me when I was a kid. Sterling Sharp was the first Jersey I ever owned.

SPEAKER 6: So that's where it started for me. And that, that might be, might be hard to believe growing up here in Dallas Fort Worth with, with the Cowboys running through three Super Bowls at that time, I was, I was a Packers fan and it was Sterling Sharp.

SPEAKER 6: So what I've recent since starting at Panini back, on May 1st, I've started a little Packers PC. It's very, very small right now. But, just something about it sparked an interest in me and, I started doing it so Packers go back, go.

SPEAKER 1: That's funny. That surprised me. Well, I know, you know, I know you grew up in Texas so that, that you're not a, one of the Texas teams. And then you, you worked in Seattle, I thought you're gonna, you know, you can, you can make an argument how you're not a Seahawks fan. And it, it was just that Jersey, right?

SPEAKER 1: You, you said, I mean, it's, yeah, and, and for me, I'm a grow, you know, I'm a New York City kid, but I'm a pitcher, Steelers fan. It's actually the only professional New York professional team that's not New York that I'm a fan of. And it was just that, that time period, I grew up to mean Joe Coke commercial.

SPEAKER 1: That kid was the same age as I was at the time. We actually even looked alike. If I showed you a picture, we had a, a similar resemblance. And I just, you know, they were obviously winning the games too. That always helps when you're a kid and the team wins. And then that commercial and the rest was history.

SPEAKER 1: I took a lot of abuse as a young kid in New York City. Like, how do you, how are you, the Steelers fan? You can't even go to the games and, you know, and I just would say me and Joe is my guy and, you know, that commercial and I never, you know, I was probably 56 years old.

SPEAKER 1: I never, I never wavered and, here we are 45 years later. So it's, it's, you know, hearing you talk about the Sterling Sharp, Jersey. Like I, I struggle because, you know, for, for everyone has a different reason why they may be, and it may be something simple commercial.

SPEAKER 1: The first Jersey I got, I've heard people say it's the first kind of game use card I ever pulled out of a pack. It just, I gravitated that way. So there's no wrong way to be a fan of whatever your, your team is and heck maybe you get to meet, you know, now you get to meet maybe a few Packers along along the way now too with with what you Sterling was a.

SPEAKER 6: My, the last show I ever went on for Panini. I'm sorry for Beckett was a GTSM show in New Jersey and Sterling Sharp was signing there. I lost my damn mind. I don't fan girl a lot like, and you're just usually another guy or another athlete, you know, that's, it's fine.

SPEAKER 6: I treat you like people but meeting Sterling Sharp and, and being in his presence like for me, I was, I was 10 years old again, 11 years old again, just reliving, loving the past as a, as a kid. It was great.

SPEAKER 1: And I know you and I've seen you conduct interviews with athletes on right neck, right near you and you're a professional. So I would have loved to see you turn it and I just, I would have probably paid for that cause it's not what you normally do.

SPEAKER 6: You're right man, because you gotta be professional, right? You know, this, you just gotta be professional but like being there seeing Sterling and just reliving that in my head. It was, it was great. So, I hope that he doesn't think I'm some weird guy now but anyways, it's, it was cool to do and I was grateful for the opportunity to do.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, I think those guys get it. You know what I mean? When, when somebody gets excited they, they know it's not the first time. And I, I think truthfully if I was a AAA you know, an athlete, I'd be out, you know, that would make me feel good that someone thinks that much of me that they're emotional about it or, or giddy or happy or, or whatnot. I get asked that too.

SPEAKER 1: You know, was it what athlete or celebrity would get you like that out of your kind of comfort zone? And I, I think it's probably a lot of people that, you know, the way I answer that just quickly without really, really thinking about Michael Jordan would be one.

SPEAKER 1: And I, I like just pop culture celebrity side. I'm a big Robert De Niro, Al Pacino fan. Those are two of my favorite actors. I've never met him. I've met actors before. Billy Crystal. Danny Alo, no problem there, talk to him. You know, Danny, rest in peace.

SPEAKER 1: But if I ever met Pacino or De Niro, that would be, I'd have to like, you know, kind of take a deep breath and, and like, maybe, you know, I still would probably go make an idiot out of myself, but, it still would be very cool, to, to meet him. So II I get it for sure.

SPEAKER 6: I'm gonna give you two more and one you're gonna love, you're gonna love, just because of who you are and where you're from. If I ever met the beastie boys, I don't know that I would be able to contain myself.

SPEAKER 6: It would just be completely insane and they're coming up very, very soon.

SPEAKER 6: I'm gonna have a chance to meet Rosie Dawson and I'm gonna go ahead and just apologize to my wife right now.

SPEAKER 6: Because she'll, she'll be there too.

SPEAKER 6: I'm, I'm gonna meet her in a few weeks and I, I don't know, I, I might need a, I need, I might need a paper bag or.

SPEAKER 1: Something like that. Yeah. That's, that's funny. That's funny. You know, wives are most wives are, are, are pretty forgiving with that. My wife asked me once, what female actress like would I like to meet or do I have a thing for? And at the time she's older now as I am, I, if we forget we're aging with him, but Marissa Tomei back in the day, for sure.

SPEAKER 1: Was, was a big one, to me, Brooklyn native. So there's a little bit of, that in there and, and my wife said, all right, I'Ll give you, I'Ll let you have one. You know, she was kidding.

SPEAKER 1: You mentioned the BC boys, one of my biggest regrets and I know there's bigger regrets you can have than, I'm a huge beastie boys guy somehow. Some, and I'm a big concert guy. I go to a lot of concerts somehow, some way. And I'm, I'm really sad to say this now without Adam. Yo, gone too and, and I never saw them.

SPEAKER 1: In concert is as big a fan as I am. It doesn't make me less a fan. It just, it's funny they came to Syracuse once.

SPEAKER 1: I'm in Syracuse for those that don't know, they've only came here once when, while I've been here and actually there was a lot of hoo they were doing some on stage stuff in the local politics, threatened to arrest them and I was planning to go and I, and this was a while ago, Eric, I don't even remember what happened, but something came up where I couldn't attend.

SPEAKER 1: I was like, really, really bummed and I'm even more bummed now because I, you know, at the time you say, well, I'Ll catch him, I'Ll go to New York and catch him or I'Ll travel a little bit and catch him at another venue. You, you think in that moment and here we are years later and that's unfortunately not going to ever, be the case.

SPEAKER 1: So I was bummed then and, and hearing you mention them, it, it's a little bit of an open wound that as big a fan, you know, I, I almost call myself a super fan. Read the books have all, all the albums have vinyl and you know, if, if you saw a new, like what the BC boys meant to me, you would just assume I've seen them 10 times and yet, you know, I haven't, I never seen him in person at all.

SPEAKER 1: So, one of my musical regrets, I'Ll just say, but hearing you say that, you know, warm my heart cause I'm a huge, huge BC boy guy. Here's the crazy thing as big as a fan as I am.

SPEAKER 1: I don't think I would get like crazy. I, I don't cause I, I know so much about him. I almost feel like I know him, even though I don't know him personally, I almost feel like from reading the books that they, they wrote and, and other people wrote. I almost feel like I kind of grew up with them.

SPEAKER 1: So I would, I, I would, I would be honored, to, to meet them.

SPEAKER 1: But I, I don't think I'd get like, too giddy. I, you know, I'd probably pinch myself and like, I'd probably say like, this is, this is amazing, the fun, you know. But I don't think I would be too, too bad. I think I'd be composed enough to have a, a normal conversation anyway.

SPEAKER 6: So I would hope so, man, because you, we us grown men, we can't be freaking out over, over, over.

SPEAKER 1: I said, no, it's all right. It's all right. Every once in a while we, we get a, we get a pass too, you know, I.

SPEAKER 6: I, I wanna give you, I want to give your listeners a tip here. So hearing what you just said about the VC boys.

SPEAKER 6: In the late mid nineties, I had a chance to go see, see Frank Sinatra here in the Dallas Fort Worth area and I didn't do it because I didn't quite understand who he was. He was much older and he was, it was much later in his life.

SPEAKER 6: I, I just, I didn't, I didn't do it. I, I passed on it and getting older and appreciating his music. I wish that's something I look back on and wish I would have done so now much like you because I see your, I see your Social Media photos.

SPEAKER 6: I go to every concert I can go, I can get to almost just, just to say, hey, I see that. I, I went and saw Bon Jovi last year. I can't stand Bon Jovi. But I went because I had never seen him before and I wanted to see what it was like. Was it great? No.

SPEAKER 6: Am I happy? I went. Absolutely because it was something I, I've never done and I don't, I mean, I, I'Ll, I'Ll never do it again, but I, I did it last year and I'm good with it.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, you gotta live, you gotta experience stuff. I have, one quick Bon Jovi story. It's one of my wife's favorite bands. So I went, I, I like them. I don't wanna make it like she dragged me. It was actually the worst show I ever, worst con I ever went to. Not because of them, but they had it on a golf course, Eric.

SPEAKER 1: And it was like you, it was General Mission. So it was 40,000 people. They opened the gates and you just had to run to the stage. Well, I'm, I'm probably 46 at that time, maybe 45 44. I'm not running number one. I'm not that big of a, my wife's not running even though she loves them.

SPEAKER 1: So we just walk and everyone else is bum rushing the stage and we're off way to the side. We had to watch literally a Jumbotron to sea and the sound wasn't great being that far away.

SPEAKER 1: And, you know, my wife would even tell you as big a Bo Joey fan as she is not a great concert, not a great experience, but we could say we saw a concert on a golf course and we, we were there. But, you know, I wasn't about to like, get into the, the, the stampede or, or to her. But, you know, if, it was one of those, if we kind of knew beforehand how it was gonna be, we may have not have went.

SPEAKER 1: But, you know, you live, you live and learn. So, but yeah, and it's a, it's a funny story to tell after, after the fact and that's kind of where you're going, right. You, you never know, you don't want to miss opportunities necessarily.

SPEAKER 1: And, you know, the BC boys is gonna be one that, unfortunately I, I'Ll regret to, to the end. But, you know, so it, it is what it is, I'Ll, I'Ll, I'Ll listen to him, you know, on the radio and on my phone and, and all that good stuff on vinyl and, enjoy them that way.

SPEAKER 1: Well, Eric, I, I'm, I'm, I appreciate you making some time. I know you're busy. You know, and, one quick question before we get out. Might we see, some content? I mean, obviously you're writing that content. Might we see some video, audio content, in the future again?

SPEAKER 1: I mean, I, I.

SPEAKER 6: Wanna tell you, yes, I, I sat down earlier this year with the intent to do that and I put out one show if I'm just being completely honest with you, like, my heart's not in that side of it right now and I, I'm more, I'm preoccupied with trying to be, I'm not, I shouldn't say preoccupied, but I'm trying to be a, a good husband, a good, a good dad and my kids are, you know, 13 and, and six and my oldest son is deployed to Kuwait to Kuwait right now.

SPEAKER 6: I have other responsibilities that I, that I'm putting first as I should be.

SPEAKER 6: I have a lot of unreleased content that I could just push out, but I don't wanna, I don't wanna do that. I wanna do it right.

SPEAKER 6: So I guess to answer that in a roundabout ways maybe, but just not right now.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah. No. Understandable. You got your priorities, obviously, your family first and, and, and that goes without saying and, you know, you never can say never and, and maybe someday we'll be talking about your, your new show and we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll come back on and, and, and do this again to talk about that.

SPEAKER 1: But, like I was, saying I look forward to seeing you here in less than two months and talking to you in, in person, which is, is something I'd rather do. But, this was great. I appreciate you making some time.

SPEAKER 6: Hey, man, thank you for having me on. I, I will be a guest anytime you want. I might, I'Ll be doing new content, but I'Ll be a guest any time you want.

SPEAKER 1: All right. Well, you be careful what you say you might be, you might be a permanent co-host, on the show and you're back in the game. But Eric, I appreciate it, man.

SPEAKER 1: I, you know, you know what I, I feel about you, this show is, is sort of, you know, we, we talk about coaching trees and like in sports, this is sort of the podcast tree in, in, in my mind and, you know, probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. And you were very helpful when I was, first getting started as well. So which, I appreciate. So we'll see you soon. All right, buddy. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER 1: Always great catching up with, Eric and, excited for him and his new role. I know, you know, he's kind of looking for a change and, you know, he's, he's a very intelligent, go getter type who's gonna bring that to the table for Panini and they got themselves a good one and, look forward to seeing Eric here very soon at the National.

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SPEAKER 9: That's a wrap for this week. Huge thanks to you, the listeners out there because without you, there is no, if you like the show, we truly appreciate positive reviews, big ups to our great guests who drive the show and our awesome sponsors who make it all possible.

SPEAKER 9: Sports Cod Nation will be back next week but don't forget to catch either Hobby quick hits or card Mensches. Coming up on Monday, I leave you with this.

SPEAKER 9: How do we change the world?

SPEAKER 9: One? Random act of kindness at a time.

SPEAKER 9: Remember the Hobby is the people.